Coordinator Ash
by Ryuus2
Summary: After reading some really good stories, I got the idea to find stories where Ash was a Coordinator. I didn't find any lI liked, so I decided to just make one of my own. Accepting title and summary suggestions, as these ones blow.


I, Ryuus2, hereby disclaim ownership of the Pokemon franchise. Its many, many characters are the property of their creators and are no way my own. I make no profit from this writing. This disclaimer applies to the story as a whole and will not appear again later.

In celebration of my birthday, I'm uploading the first chapters of some new stories...which I really shouldn't be doing, but they distracted me from the other stories so they're what I focused on. Don't worry, the next chapter of TEFOM and M&M are both more than half done, and the next chapters of F/OK and RS are both at about 1/4 ready, so expect something from them soon-ish. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a room full of booze and cake...er, I mean, a room full of friends and family awaiting me. God I love St. Patrick's Day ^_^

If you enjoy the stories, or don't, review or I'll never know how to make them better!

* * *

Ash was sitting under a tree meditating intently on his recent losses in the Sinnoh region. It was a bit of a long list: Paul, Roark, Gardenia, Lucien, and more. Most prominently on his mind was his battle with Kenny, Dawn's childhood friend and one of her Coordinating rivals, that Team Rocket interrupted. Despite Kenny being a rookie trainer like Dawn, his Prinplup had put up an excellent fight against Pikachu, even with its type disadvantage.

What truly was drawing the young trainer's focus was the attitude of the boy from Twinleaf, an attitude he'd encountered time and time again ever since he first learned of Contests back in the Hoen region. Kenny, Drew, and even Zoe (at first) all belittled his ability as a pokemon trainer because of his predisposition for battles over contests. And the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became.

Whether it was his skills, his style, or even his right to compete, he was constantly running into people who looked down on him for not being a Coordinator. He'd gone farther in each League tournament he had been in than most people his age ever dreamed, and yet still they looked at him like an incompetent rookie!

...okay, so maybe the fact that he acted so obtuse all the time was working against him a little there too, but his innocent routine had gotten him into some of the most secure research centers too many times and had gotten far too many people to let slip the important details he needed to save the day on too many dozens of occasions. There was no way he was going to stop acting the goof with that kind of track record.

But that was beside the point. He was getting sick and tired of all these Coordinators attitudes...and victories, he begrudgingly admitted to himself. Though it was a harsh meal to swallow, he had to admit that some of the professional Coordinators he knew were even more challenging opponents than some of the best trainers he'd battled. He had learned years ago to take every loss as a learning experience, but the sheer frequency with which they beat him was getting aggravating. And when something aggravated Ash Ketchum, he took it as a personal challenge to overcome.

"I've decided!" Ash yelled. "I'll show them all what I can really do! Pikachu, we're entering the Grand Festival!"

"Pika?" the yellow mouse asked and curiously tilted its head. What harebrained scheme was his trainer thinking up this time?

* * *

Back at camp Dawn and Brock were preparing lunch. They had stumbled upon a traveler campsite at the edge of a lake, complete with a small brick grill and picnic table. Dawn put the finishing touches on the table settings and stepped back to admire her work. "There we go. What do you think Piplup?"

The tiny penguin pokemon happily chirped his approval with a raised flipper. "Pip-piplup!"

Dawn smiled and turned to Brock. "Hey Brock, is lunch ready yet?"

"Just a few more minutes," the older teen said as he turned the steak and vegetable kabobs for a final time.

Dawn looked around quickly or their other companion, but he still hadn't returned. "Ash sure is taking his sweet time. Any idea what's taking him so long?"

"Hmm, not really. He has been a little down lately, so he may just be meditating somewhere quiet," Brock mused as he pulled the skewers from the grill and set them on a plate. "Sometimes after a tough loss he'll head off like this to take stock of his performance, or just to puzzle out his opponent's strategy."

Dawn couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Ash pondering quietly. Mostly the 'quietly' part. No matter what Ash was doing, if he was conscious, he was loud about it.

Brock chuckled as well. "Yeah, he is a bit of a knucklehead. But don't worry, he should be back as soon as his stomach reminds him what time it is."

As if his name had summoned him, Ash picked that moment to step out of the underbrush on the far side of camp. "Hey guys! I've got great news!" He shouted as he jogged up to them.

"So what's the news?"

"I've decided to enter the Grand Festival," Ash said with a happy grin.

"WHAT?!" Dawn shrieked, overwhelming Brocks more sedate, but still surprised "What?!" and making Ash cringe.

"Not so loud guys," Ash groaned as he tried to stop the ringing in his ears. Dawn had a pair of lungs that could do Misty proud.

"Why?!" Dawn continued less loudly, but still pretty shrill.

Ash rubbed the back of his neck embarrassedly. "Well, it's just that every time I meet a new coordinator they always look down on me for being a Trainer. It's like clockwork almost," he said. "Sure, there've been a few who didn't, but they're the exception, not the rule."

Brock nodded. "True…but, Ash, most of those people changed their minds after getting to know you," Brock needled. He could understand his friends reasons for wanting to do this, but he also knew there was more to this than his friend was letting on. Ash wouldn't make such a drastic change without careful consideration and good reasons. Sure, he jumped into any competition he came across wholeheartedly, and yes he'd tested his skills at a few contests over the years, but there was never any indication that he was interested in becoming a coordinator. Something was up with Ash, and Brock was going to get to the bottom of it.

Ash huffed at his friends comment and crossed his arms petulantly. "Yeah, most of them did. Usually after I nearly got killed saving them or their pokemon. And there is another reason…" he mumbled.

"Yes…?" Brock prodded.

"I keep losing to them," he muttered. That immediately silenced his male friend and killed the remark building on Dawn's tongue.

Pikachu rubbed his cheek against Ash's with a comforting "Pikaa~." Ash scratched his buddies head in thanks for his support and received a content "Chaa~!" in return.

He turned back to his human friends and continued his explanation. "Every time I've entered a contest I did great in the Appeals round, and I can usually make it through the battle rounds well enough, but whenever it comes down to a real battle with a dedicated Coordinator, I lose like two out of three times! I don't think I've ever beaten an upper level Coordinator!"

Brock mentally tallied all of the battles he could remember Ash having with Coordinators over the past few years. "You might be right about that number," he mused while rubbing his chin.

Content that his older friend finally understood his reasons for doing this, he turned to the newest member of the girls-whose-bikes-Ash-destroyed club. "Anyway, Dawn, I hope I can count on your help."

"My help?" she asked absently. She shook her head to break out of the stupor Ash's candid admissions had put her in. "But you're the one who's been helping me, remember?!" she accused.

Ash shook his head. "Yeah, I helped you learn the basics, but you're better at coming up with contest combinations _and_ you have a better grasp on contest battles than I do. Sure, I can throw together an impressive strategy or two on the fly, and I've come up with some great combinations on my own, but I still treat a battle like a battle first. That's why I lost to Zoe before: she was trying to win the contest, not the battle."

"Wow. That actually made a lot of sense," Dawn said as she stared at Ash with a bit of awe. Then her brain finished rebooting and her mischievous side took over. She grinned. "To think, that you'd give up the League to become my student. I don't know what to say," she said melodramatically.

Ash and Pikachu both jumped like they'd been slapped. They gasped in shock, then took eerily similar defiant stances. "Blasphemy!" Ash shouted. "There's no way I'm giving up on the League after I've come this far!"

"Pi Pika!" Pikachu agreed from his Trainer's shoulder.

"So you're gonna do both like Lando? You're not quite as talented as him," Dawn teased.

"Hey!"

"Now now, settle down you two," Brock interruptedby stepping between them with his arms raised placatingly towards the two. "There'll be plenty of time to talk about this after lunch."

That brought the two young trainers up sort. "That reminds me...Brock, is lunch ready yet?" Ash asked followed by his stomach growling loudly. Everyone faceplanted.

Brock sighed as he picked himself up, but grinned at his best friend's simple nature. "Yeah, it's been ready for a little while now."

"Alright! Let's eat!" The young teen cheered.

* * *

Ash called out all of his pokemon. Staravia, Turtwig, and Aipom stared up at him happily. "Alright guys, I've decided to start participating in contests alongside the gyms." While Staravia and Turtwig cocked their heads and made curious noises, Aipom was much more energetic in her response, even compared to her usual enthusiasm. She whooped her approval and started hopping around in a happy jig. Ash smiled at her excitement. "Hehe, yeah, I figured you'd be the most energetic about that Aipom."

"Ai! Aipom!" She happily cheered as she did a jump and flip to land on her tail in a big pose.

The pokemon and Ash cheered and applauded her performance. "Anyways guys, I wanted to make sure you were okay with this? If we go through with this we'll have to double, maybe triple our training, and reinvent how we approach things in battle a lot. I'll understand if any of you don't want to do this."

His pokemon didn't hesitate a second to express their eagerness for the idea. Turtwig and Staravia had heard the stories from Aipom, Pikachu, and Sudowoodo about the kind of trainer Ash was and experienced for themselves his kindness and determination. Aipom had followed Ash across the sea and was excited for a chance to enter the Contests she loved more often; she was already playing through new performance strategies in her head. And as for Pikachu...if this was what his partner truly wanted, then he'd help him reach this goal just like he had every time before. They all had grown incredibly under Ash's care, and this would just be another opportunity to test themselves.

Ash smiled. "Glad to hear it. Now, let's get started!" he shouted while punching the sky.

The pokemon all cheered their enthusiasm alongside him.

* * *

And that's the beginning of what could possibly become something pretty vast. I haven't decided on any kind of pairing for this, but something may come to me later. We'll see.

Ash is NOT 10 in this. I won't get into the math, but these are the ages for this story: Ash - 15, Brock - 19, Dawn - 10 going on 11.


End file.
